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‘Neeralgi’ or ’Niralagi’
is situated about 20 km from the town of Hubballi and is located off the Bengaluru
– Pune National Highway. During my recent visit to Hubballi for a wedding, I managed
to take a sneak peek of this temple along with a few of my friends. This
beautiful temple is located outside the village of Neeralgi and from the outset
seems to have been built during the later Kalyana Chalukya period apart from some
elements added by the Hoysalas. An inscription found here states that this
place was initially known as ‘Nerulage’
and also goes on to record the construction of the Mallinath Jinalaya along
with the land grant made by Malla Gavunda (Nadaprabhu of Belahuge, present
day’s Belavige). However, no basadi remains here now except for a few ruins
spread across the village with the locals also confirming that there are no
Jains living there as of today. The inscription was found in the premises of
the old fort area and sadly nothing much of the fort survives today.Thus one can easily assume that it was
destroyed during the times of war or by the invaders. But the whereabouts of the
Jain temple and its inhabitants still remains a mystery.

Sri Siddarameshwara Temple, Neeralgi

Sri Siddarameshwara Temple, Niralagi

Also surprisingly, no inscription
related to the construction of the Sri Siddarameshwara temple has been found
till date. But on the basis of its style of construction, it can be assigned to
the 12th century Kalyana Chalukya period. The inscription belonging
to a much later period on
a pillar of the Navaranga of the temple speaks about the restoration work
of this temple carried out by Yakshadeva of Huligere. The temple comprises of a
garbhagriha, an antarala and a navaranga with two mukhamantapas, of which the
eastern mukhamantapa has collapsed. The garbhagriha houses a Shiva Linga along with
the guardian Lord Nandi in the antarala. There are 2 devakosthas/niches on either
side of the antarala, one housing a murti of the Saptamatrikas (the seven
mother-goddesses) and the other a murti of Lord Vishnu (which doesn’t seem like
the original). There is a beautiful makara torana in front of the antarala built
in classical Chalukyan style; sadly which has been covered by a modern day
photo. Although we were unable to witness the carvings on the Kapota portion,
the locals informed us about the presence of images of Lords Brahma, Vishnu and
Shiva.

Inscription on the Pillar regarding Restoration of the Temple

Lord Shiva and The Makara Torana

Rati, Manmatha and Nandi along with Attendants(both sides) as Dwarapalas

A heavily decked Dravidian
Shikara crowns the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) which is attached to a
beautiful vestibule. The keertimukha carved on the vestibule/sukanasi is
vibrant and elaborately carved. What’s more interesting is the presence of Lord
Vishnu’s Dashavatara on it.This may
have been a later addition when the temple was under the Hoysala rule. The
Shikara has a unique pattern for karna kutas which are circular shape with
grooves on its circumference, similar to a mechanical gear system unlike the commonly
seen square/rectangular ones. Why it was carved so and what it really
represents would be interesting to decipher or was it merely an architectural
element added to enhance the beauty of the temple?

Shikara

Mechanical Gear System Arrangement

Karna Kutas on the Shikara

Keertimukha of Vestibule with Dasavatara Carved on it

The external walls have beautiful
carvings of miniature shikaras and decorative pillars. There are three murtis
inside the temple complex, of which one is quite interesting and rare to find.
Though at the first look, the murti resembles that of Lord Dhanvantari and Vyasa
Muni, a closer observation and further examination reveals more. However, the Dharwad
Gazetteer mentions about the presence of a beautiful murti of Lord Bhairava in
a seated posture in this temple, which helped us in identifying the real identity of this murti.
It can be confirmed that he murti is of Lord ‘Hariharapitamaha’ or Lord ‘Dattatreya’
who is a composite form of the Lords Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Overall, it
is a beautiful temple with many hidden mysteries waiting to be unravelled!

‘Achchalu Betta’ or ‘Achchaludurga’
is a lesser known fort near Ramanagara, located off the Ramanagara – Kanakapura
highway. This hill is believed to have been fortified by Sri Kempegowda II with
the purpose of serving as a military outpost for stationing of soldiers and
tying of horses. On a holiday during a week day, we decided to visit here and
check out this place. Reaching this place was quite easy and upon inquiry about
the fort, most people advised us not to venture here with kids. Not many people
visit here as it falls under the limits of the forest department. However, later
a local gave us directions to the hill. And
hereon we began to explore the hill.

Achchaludurga Fortress

Rock Cut Steps

Achchaludurga Entrance

On the basis of the received
information, we went ahead and reached the forest area from where we had to
make a right turn to continue on the trek route. But we lost our way and failed to track the correct
route to the top. There were farms close by and the locals whom we met in the
farms for inquiry also advised us not to venture here as they saw we were
accompanied by kids. But since we insisted that we were geared up to complete
the trek, they finally gave up and directed us to the trek route. We proceeded further with
a lot of enthusiasm only to realize that we were not on the right track again!
All our efforts in tracking the right route turned futile. Many a times we missed
the route and tried different ones but in vain. Finally a shepherd came to our rescue and
showed us the right direction. Here on, there was no looking back! We reached
the fort gateway in no time. We spent some time near the gateway looking for the
presence of any carving of the guardian of the fort, Lord Anjaneya but found
none. However, we were not ready to accept that the fort premises were devoid
of any image or carving of Lord Anjaneya.We decided to move on and explore further.

Enter The Dragon

Fort-walls

Shri Bommalingeshwara Temple

Achchalu Forest

A little further from the gateway
is a water pond and a small cave shrine believed to be dedicated to Sri Bommalingaeshwara. Most of the
fortification here remains destroyed. We were able to see the lovely rock
cut steps leading to the hill- top. There are footprints of horses belonging to Sri Kempegowda on these rocks cut steps. On the top, there is a big water tank which
sadly today is in a state of despair and some recent structures, probably built
by the Forest Department. One can get a bird’s eye view of Ramanagara and the
famous Sholay hills / Ramagiri hills. We could spot a few Egyptian vultures
flying around this place.

Kite in the Flight

The Climb

At the Peak

Horseshoe Imprint

While descending, Amrutha spotted an arrow painted on a rock near the gateway directing us to the other
side of the gateway. We decided to go ahead and explore it. We reached a small cave and found
a beautiful carving of Lord Kote Anjaneya. We were very pleased to see our beloved
friend / trek partner! By experience, we have learned that wherever a fort
exists, its protector also exists! Quite
satisfied after seeing the Lord, we descended quickly and realized that most of
whom we had inquired for directions initially had only misled us, except for
the first person and the good shepherd. Thus, another fort exploration
concluded with destiny being on our side. The entire setting of the area is magnificent though it seemed risky to venture alone during the early morning and late evening
hours as spotting of leopards, bears, wild boars, porcupines, and monitor lizards
is common here.

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